So tell me...

[sunlver]

Why did they start charging for their "version" of the fast pass? We were there 2 yrs ago, and there was no charge. We did not go last yr, but were there 2 weeks ago. I knew this ahead of time, but refused to pay for it.

One day we were at IOA, and I went on the Unicorn ride with my kids. We walked right on. This couple behind us said to the workers"It looks like we dont even need this"

My husband and son walked right on to Dueling dragons as well...

So whats up with having to pay for this service now????

Also...my parents live in Florida, they are both in their 70's. They came with us to Universal. They bought a one day ticket at the gate. My dad asked about a Florida resident discount on his ticket, they said there wasnt any. How could this be?

 

[t-and-a]

We went in June of 2005 and they still had the free Express Pass kiosks in operation and then we went in June of 2006 and they had done away with the free express pass system. I think they quit at the beginning of 2006. We knew before we went in 2006 that they no longer had free express passes, so we stayed on-site at the Royal Pacific.

As far as the Florida resident discount, I think you have to buy your tickets on-line in advance. Here's a link to the Florida resident section: http://secure.universalstudios.com/...esCategoryGroup=UOMain&SalesCategory=UOFRLive

 

[damo]

The biggest part of the problem was that since they offer free unlimited fast passes if you stay onsite, and the hotels are very popular now, the lines were often way too long and they had to cut way back on the number of passes that the machines were giving out. This was causing huge problems for people because the machines would be sold out by noon and customers were very irate. This new system of selling the passes is keeping the lines manageable. Often, if you go early enough, and at non-peak times, the passes aren't needed. People should never purchase anything without knowing if it will be needed. The expresses passes can be purchased inside the park if people want to see how the lines are and if the pass will actually be beneficial that day.

There are Florida residents' discounts but only online. The discount is pretty good. More than they give at Disney.

I think the machine passes disappeared in the fall of 2005.

 

[yaytezIOA]

The machines disappeared the day after Labor Day, if memory serves me, in 2005.
And as Damo said, it was because of the hotels, and trying to keep the lines down. Look at disney, if you have a popular ride, what is the standby time during a regular day? Usually around 60 mins. Look at Universal, it is much much less.....during a regular day, its about 20 mins....30 mins tops. Right now? Yeah, you couldnt touch the most unpopular rides at Universal for under 90 minutes. Disney? Probably 2 hours.

As for the Florida resident rates, online, and they offer it only during certain times of the year. Right now they are offering buy one year get another year free with select coke products for FL residents....always helps to check online.

 

[palavra]

The lack of something similar to fastpass is the one thing I didn't like about Universal. I can sort of see there reasoning about the hotels, but not everyone can afford or even wants to spend that kind of money on a hotel. And then there are people like my family. My sister lives in Orlando. We have a free place to stay, so we are unlikely to stay at the hotels. Next time we go to universal, it will probably be off season. If the express is reasonable, we will definitely buy it.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Express/fastpass has been proven to be a Mistake. Again and again and again. Universal stopping the express, except for hotel guests and for those that pay for it, makes both the express AND regular lines shorter.

When express was available to all (as is the way it is with fastpass) popular attractions ran out of express FAST. As in by 12p. This made many people Displeased. Additionally, since there are so many passes given out (Universal put a stronger time restriction than Disney), and the "15 mins or less" goal, this often made regular wait times horrifically longer. When there is/are a lot of express returning at the same time, this caused even heavier express jam-ups, which make the regular wait even longer.

The idea of express > the reality.

 

[F-L-A]

Why did they start charging for their "version" of the fast pass?

Because it works better than Disney's system. It also gives people a reason to stay on-site.

 

[Timmy Boy]

Yea, ugh. I hate when people complain, saying how it should be like Disney's and be free.

They don't understand that if that is the case, then it's basically two lines, of the same length coming at you. One, you have to take fluently, because if their wait is 15 min. or more, they get mad. So you end up doing insane ratios, where you take something like 10 regular guests, then 80 FastPass guests. If FP wasn't there, that would 90 standby guests.

Then the line would move faster... People just think Disney's logic is better on absolutely everything. FP is not.